Lithonia man arrested in Knights Inn 2020 shooting
Michael King The jury delivered its verdict against Deontavious Brewer Thursday.
LITHONIA, Ga. — A jury has found a Lithonia man guilty of murdering a woman in a DeKalb County motel in 2020.
The jury delivered its verdict against Deontavious Brewer Thursday. The 24-year-old has been convicted of felony murder, involuntary manslaughter, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and aggravated assault.
Brewer's verdict comes after a woman's 2020 death at a Knights Inn on Panola Road in Lithonia.
DeKalb County Police Department officers were called to a person shot at the motel on Nov. 11, 2020. That's where they found Peaches Armstrong, a 39-year-old woman, dead. She had been shot several times, according to police. Another man was in the motel with her but not hurt.
According to prosecutors, the man told police he and Armstrong were asleep when he heard gunshots outside of the room. He saw Armstrong had been hit and called 911.
The man told investigators that he suspected Brewer and another woman since they had been arguing with Armstrong over $20.
Surveillance video from outside of the motel confirmed the man's suspicious, prosecutors said, as footage showed Brewer get out of a silver BMW, walk to the motel room, and fire 11 rounds through the window of the room.
Management at the motel said the other woman who was involved with Brewer drove a silver BMW and lived next to Armstrong until she stopped paying for the woman's room. The woman's family also tipped off authorities, saying that the woman had threatened to kill Armstrong on Facebook and showed up at their home in North Carolina with Brewer following the shooting and spoke of the murder, prosecutors said.
Brewer was eventually arrested with the woman in Atlanta. Brewer confessed to shooting and killing Armstrong; the woman admitted to driving the getaway car.
The woman to a plea deal last year and was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony charge. She was sentenced to 25 years to serve 20 with the balance on probation, according to the DeKalb County District Attorney's Office.
Brewer is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 5.
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